Thursday Orienteering Practice

Our Thursday Orienteering Practices are offered over 8 weeks in the spring and again in the fall. These coach-led practices will help you to progress faster towards becoming a better orienteer and are also just another fun opportunity to orienteer. Each practice, participants will be divided up into skill levels (intermediate and advanced) with a coach dedicated to leading that group and teaching to that level. Each practice is designed to help you improve the orienteering skills you that help you complete Orienteering Ottawa's races with more confidence and knowledge.

Times and Locations

We offer our Thursday Orienteering Practices over 8 weeks in the spring and 8 weeks and the fall.

Each week we visit a different venue.

See the schedule in the sidebar for scheduled locations each week. Clicking on any of the events in the schedule will take you to a page with details about the session.

Each week we will start with a group discussion led by the coach and then do a hands-on training exercise that focuses on a particular aspect of your orienteering technique. This exercise may consist of a single course or it may consist of several loops. For those looped exercises there will be a chance to talk to the coach in between so you can get feedback before heading into the woods again. We will end each session with a group discussion and debrief to talk about how the exercise went and what you can do to practice this element of your orienteering technique.

Additionally, program members are encouraged to discuss your Spring/Fall Series races and compare notes with each other and with the coach each week. Spring/Fall Series Events, though not formally part of the program, are an excellent opportunity to practice your new techniques and learn from each session in the woods. We hope to see you on Sunday mornings!

Weather and Safety Policies

All of our programs are rain or shine (or snow or wind…). Only in the event of dangerous conditions arising due to an electrical storm or other extreme weather will a program session be canceled, in which case we will send out an e-mail two hours prior to the start of the session.

There are a few risks to be aware of when playing and spending time wild areas in the outdoors. The major ones in the Ottawa area are ticks, poison ivy, and wild parsnip. You can find out more about these risks on our safety page (page de sécurité et éthique).

To see the club’s full weather policy as well as our program behaviour and safety policies check out our <link>policy manual</link>.